


Forever Isn't Long Enough

by cndrow



Series: Canon-Compliant Promnis [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Scene, spoilers - Episode Ignis, spoilers - Episode Prompto, spoilers - up through Chapter 13, trying to fill in those missing canon-compliant Promnis scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 05:46:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14710250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cndrow/pseuds/cndrow
Summary: Prompto still has his place within his group of friends after being rescued, but his anxiety won't be assured so easily. Certainly he's Noctis' bestie, Gladio's backup, and Ignis' guide.. but can he still expect Ignis' heart to belong to him too?





	Forever Isn't Long Enough

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing and posting this ahead of the meandering series I'm working on (dropping Promnis into canon where I felt it could've easily fit).
> 
> Posting early because I finished the main story + episodes less than a week ago and I really, really needed to get this out of my system.

>   **Five hours after rescue...**

Even in sleep, Noctis wouldn’t let go of his wrist.

Prompto hunched in the rickety chair beside the bunk bed, free arm curled around himself defensively. The nausea was easing, especially after he’d been practically force-fed half a gallon of water by his friends the past few hours since they’d found him.

Friends.

His breath hitched as he stared down at Noctis’ fingers covering the damning tattoo. There hadn’t been any hesitation when he’d revealed his origins- from any of them, really- but of course it’d been Noct who jumped to his defense. Noct was the first who purposefully moved into his personal space, stared him down and accepted it all with that token nonchalant shrug and smile.

And now, even as Noct’s snores echoed in the small room in an offbeat rhythm against Gladio’s louder snuffling, Noct wouldn’t let go of his wrist. Which was really sweet and it made Prompto’s heart hurt in such a nice way, but, damn he needed to pee.

Prompto glanced around the room, frowning as he noted Ignis was still sitting up in the adjacent bed. Though, from the way his hands were propped on his cane, head drooping onto his chest, he was likely dozing. He should take care of his bladder, then get Iggy stretched out for some proper rest. Sleep, actual horizontal normal sleep sounded so, so good right now.

Noctis’ grip had finally relaxed, making it easy to unfurl his fingers and tuck them under his chin. Prompto rubbed at his wrist as he stood, a frisson of fear crawling up his spine. His wristband had been lost- taken, he suspected- when he was captured, and now that uncomfortable feeling of being exposed was alerting all the sirens in his brain. _Focus, Prompto. Piss. Sleep. There’s bigger shit to worry about tomorrow_.

In the gentle silence of the room, he let the familiar sounds of his friends lull his rising anxiety. Not wanting to leave the relative security of the room, a rusted drum in the far corner served well enough as a makeshift toilet. He steadily ignored his stained and ripped pants as he zipped up, scheduling the annoyance and dread of patching them as another worry for his list of tomorrow’s problems.

He walked back over to the beds, pausing beside Ignis as he looked him over. There was a fresh line of scratches on his left forearm, and the cuffs of his usually-immaculate pants were dusty and dirty. Boots, too, with what looked like mud caked on the edges. Telltale signs of Ignis living and breathing and fighting while Prompto had been chained in the dark. At least he seemed alright; had even begun cracking a few (really awful) puns before they found this refuge for the night, _and_ grabbed his hand not once but twice, even though Ignis obviously hadn’t needed guidance.

Still…

Prompto stared down at him, rubbing at his wrist, guilt twisting his gut. There was a small bitter measure of comfort in knowing Ignis had never seen the barcode, and now never would.

It had been incredibly difficult to accept Ignis loved him _before_ , back when they were comfortable and safe, chilling on the road, sharing bedrolls and too-small motel beds, when the tattoo had been a strange mystery he could easily forget for days at a time.

Now?

_I don’t see you turning against us._

Prompto swallowed back a surge of bile. Not that was ever going to say it, but Ignis’ comment had taken a large bite out of his already fragile confidence. He’d tried to rationalise it the past few hours- obviously, Iggy would’ve immediately accessed this new information against a threat threshold, and obviously he’d passed, but…

Still. To think he had to even make Iggy consider such a thing about one of _them_. It made him so angry- not at Iggy, or even himself, just.. at the circumstances.

A touch at his hip made him nearly jump out of his skin, just barely managing to muffle his scream before he could voice it. Ignis was looking up at him- not seeing, but still, _looking_ \- one hand gripping his waist to pull him closer.

“Sorry,” Prompto whispered. “Let’s get you to bed, huh? Both of us. I’m beat.” He forced himself to smile, belatedly realising Ignis wouldn’t see it. “There’s some extra sheets on the other beds, I’ll- ah?”

The cane clattered to the floor as Ignis’ arms wrapped around Prompto’s waist, burying his face against Prompto’s middle. Prompto could feel him shuddering past stuttered breaths, his grip tight and desperate.

“Iggy? Y- You okay?” Prompto gently placed his hands on the top of Ignis’ shoulders, thumbing small circles into muscle.

Ignis’ reply was too muffled against his shirt to understand. Prompto leaned back and Ignis adjusted, shifting to press his cheek against his stomach instead and- was that a sob? Prompto tensed, all senses on alert.

“Iggy? Honey?” Prompto doubled over, trying to catch Ignis’ next words. “What’s wrong?”

“-sorry,” Ignis gasped, rubbing his cheek into the stained fabric. “I’m so sorry, darling. My darling Prompto. I’m so sorry.”

 _Oh no, and look what you’ve done!_ cried a traitorous voice in Prompto’s head. _You’ve gone and broke him somehow. How’d you manage that fuck-up?_

“Iggy,” Prompto repeated, trying to think of what to say. Carefully he pried Ignis’ hands from him so he could step forward and sit on his lap, and Ignis wrapped around him instantly, face in his neck, arms locking him close. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. It’s- It happened, and it’s over now.”

“ _I_ made the choice to leave you behind,” Ignis slurred against his skin. “Noct, he demanded we stop the train. _I_ told him no. _I_ forced us onwards.”

Prompto gasped, that sharp terror clawing into his skull- then he paused, biting his lip so hard he tasted blood. “But- The Imperials were right behind. You couldn’t stop. Everyone on board would’ve been killed! Right?”

“Oh gods,” Ignis’ grip tightened, “I knew that, and I forced us to continue and leave you behind. And this whole time I’ve remained calm, reminding myself that we all swore an oath to keep Noct safe even at the cost of our own lives. And- Prompto, I promised myself I would let go once I knew for certain if you were alive or- or- I knew your fate was in the hands of that insane madman and so I- Prompto, I- Towards the end there, I lost hope.”

Ignis sounded so broken, so hollow, so alien it brought tears to Prompto’s eyes. “I.. I get that, Iggy. I think I would’ve too.”

“I watched him toy with me in Altissa, flirting with destroying Noct while I watched,” Ignis added in a rush. “Leaving you dead or on the edge of death to find, just to further burn us all, was well within my expectations. Somewhere along the way, a part of me gave up. It hurt too much to imagine you kept alive and in pain.. perhaps it was better if- if you were- Prompto, I am so sorry.”

A surge of anger curled through Prompto, lighting his stomach on fire. He, too, had thought that was Ardyn’s plans, and so he’d remained silent and defiant until the end. “Hey, I thought that too, y’know,” he murmured, leaning down to ghost a quick kiss against the shell of Ignis’ ear. “You had to do what you had to, to take care of yourself and the others. It’s that, uh, what’s the thing you do?”

“…Compartmentalise.”

“Yeah, that.”

Ignis shuddered against him. “Can you forgive me?”

“What? Why? You think I’d be mad at you for that?” Prompto leaned his head against Ignis’, breathing deep in the nest of hair.

“I gave up on finding you alive,” Ignis hissed. Nails dug into the back of Prompto’s shirt, dragging at his shoulderblades. “To be able to think and function, I had to- to prepare myself.”

Prompto inhaled sharply. “It’s okay, Iggy.”

“I left you, I never- I shouldn’t have left you!”

And- well, no, that idea had sounded a bit terrifying when Ignis had suggested Prompto stay behind with Noct on the train while he and Gladio cleared the front. It had stung a bit, too; Prompto had silently appointed himself as Ignis’ eyes after the.. accident.. but he’d quickly squashed that feeling. Gladio was more than capable of watching Iggy, and trusting him to watch Noct’s back had made him feel so important.

“You can’t predict everything,” Prompto huffed, feeling himself smile in spite of the silent tears. “Honey, c’mon. None of us could’ve known, but we made the best of the situation. And, hey, we’re here now.” He squeezed Ignis in a fierce hug. “You remember that?”

A short pause, then he felt Ignis finally relax against him. When he spoke, he sounded calmer, softer. “Yes. Fourteen days since our departure from the Crown City. I woke to see the sunrise behind you, framing your rather messy hair and delicate neck. You were fresh from sleep, your eyes lazy, and that incredibly adorable pout you gave. You had made the most terrible coffee I’d ever tasted in my life. I hadn’t planned on confessing to you, but…”

Much better. Prompto sighed, pulling back just enough so he could bump their noses together. “But?”

Ignis’ breath hitched. “Fishing for compliments now?”

“After the past few days I’ve had? Hell yeah.”

A smile flitted across Ignis’ face, though he tried to twist it into a wry grin. “You were so open with your affection and compliments, your special intoxicating blend of both shy and bold, and I found myself telling you how you made me feel alive before I could consider the pertinence of the time and place. And you said-,”

“It’s perfect, because we’re here together,” Prompto whispered, pressing his forehead to Ignis’. “Isn’t it?”

Ignis swallowed audibly, the hands on Prompto’s waist tightening. “Apparently I’ve forgotten that lesson. I appreciate the reminder.”

“And…” Prompto hated himself for opening his mouth, for giving voice to that ball of anxiety beating against his brain, but if he didn’t do it now.. “Even though I’m.. You still want me?”

“Even though you’re what?” Ignis snapped, and Prompto started at the sharp tone. “You’re alive, Prompto. You’re here and whole, where I can touch and hear and taste you. That’s all that will ever matter to me.”

“I’m sorry, sugar,” Prompto replied in a small voice. “I’m sorry I had to ask, I just.. I had to. Just this once.”

“I understand.” Ignis drew back, face downcast. “I know the feeling intimately. The need for assurance.”

Prompto sighed again, reaching up to cup Ignis’ face with both hands. “I’ve given you enough reassurance, haven’t I? Maybe I haven’t. Ask me anytime, Iggy, so I can tell you how much I want you forever.”

This time, Ignis’ smile lit his face, the weariness disappearing briefly. “And you do the same, my dear. Promise me?”

“That’s too easy to promise.” Prompto smothered a laugh against Ignis’ shoulder. “You know me. I’ll find new and creative ways to be anxious about our relationship in the future, just you wait.”

“Ah. I am filled with anticipation,” Ignis replied dryly, and this time Prompto’s laugh escaped to echo around them. “Shh, darling, you’ll wake them.”

“Speaking of.. It’s bedtime, sugar. We’ve got a big day tomorrow, y’know.”

One hand crept under Prompto’s shirt, thumbing suggestive circles against his side, stealing his breath. “Mm, yes.”

Prompto groaned quietly, dropping his head to Ignis’ shoulder again. “I wanna, I want you, oh fuck I want you,” he breathed, “but I’m so damn tired.”

“Of course you are, darling.” Ignis pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before scooting back onto the bed, drawing Prompto to lay down atop him. “Could you draw up the blankets?”

Prompto wriggled his feet, tucking his and Ignis’ legs in before reaching down to drape the meager sheets over them. The room was slightly cool, but that wouldn’t last long being this close to Ignis’ warmth. “Want me to help you undress a bit? Belt? Shirt?”

Ignis hummed, thinking, then lightly shook his head. “It’s fine, love. I want to be prepared in the event we need to be on the move quickly.”

“Good point. I was-,”

A hand gripped Prompto’s shoulder, a definitely-not-Ignis’-hand hand, and Prompto bit back a yelp.

“Shh, you’ll wake Gladio,” Noctis whispered against his ear as he eased onto the mattress.

Prompto giggled as his friend elbowed his side, forcing him to move to lay completely on Ignis to make room. Without hesitation, Ignis swiveled his arm out and drew Noctis close as well.

“You guys are so loud,” Noctis sighed in that teasing long-suffering manner he was too good at. “S’your fault I had to come shut you up.”

“Oh, we’re entirely at fault,” Ignis snorted. “Forgive us for awakening his majesty from his beauty sleep.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you need all of that you can get,” Prompto sniggered, biting back another yell when Noctis tickled his side with lazy fingers.

“Go to sleep,” Noctis whined.

“Of course,” Ignis yawned.

Prompto huffed, yawning in turn, then turned in Ignis’ hold so he was facing Noctis. His best friend’s eyes were already closed, but he blindly reached out for Prompto’s wrist anyway, grabbing it as he had earlier. Prompto’s heart skipped.

“See you in the morning, nerds,” Noctis mumbled.

“We’ll be here,” Ignis added quietly.

Trust them to know exactly what to say to make him feel like crying again. Prompto took a steadying breath and relaxed as he exhaled, eyes finally slipping closed for the evening. “Me too, guys. Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still in pain ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ


End file.
